TRYMBPIETM 67: Mirror, Night, Snow Peak (30)

Xing Shuangzhan coldly glanced at Bei Shen, remaining indifferent to his slightly smug words.

No matter how Bei Shen had broken through the Grand Tomb’s array to complete the invocation, it had no impact on him.

Let’s not mention that Jingming Mountain’s Grand Tomb was originally his domain—even outside the tomb, those righteous gods wouldn’t truly confront him.

Righteous gods usually had principles. Even if they responded to an invocation, they wouldn’t recklessly attack without discernment.

Even if they did attack, even though he wasn’t at his peak, he was still on par with a righteous god in terms of strength, and the opponent would gain nothing.

Bei Shen chuckled twice when Xing Shuangzhan didn’t reply.

He could guess Xing Shuangzhan’s general thoughts, which only made him feel more pleased.

The god he worshiped was not one of those righteous gods with principles and boundaries, but a ghost deity whose strength rivaled Xing Su at his peak.

Ghosts always acted on intent, indifferent to reason.

Bei Shen, with his eyes still bleeding, widened them, his facial features becoming somewhat strange. He mocked, “Seems you still don’t understand my meaning. Though it’s no surprise, who would have thought that the old ones at the Xuanxu Sect had such treasures? They may not be very ethical, but their wealth-gathering methods are quite impressive.”

“Xing Su, you probably don’t know yet, but the group of new elders who’ve risen to the top has never given up on their plans.”

“They’re not trying to steal your power anymore, but they’ve been searching for replacements, like the statues of gods, or even ghost deities themselves.”

Ghost deities are inferior to true gods in many ways, and many are essentially just stronger ghosts.

They tend to be greedy, and not popular among legitimate cultivators. But for the Xuanxu Sect, they are just right.

What the Sect wants is not the protection of ghost deities.

They want to tame them, turning them into another “Jingming Mountain Ghost King” under their control.

The statue Bei Shen obtained from the elders of the Xuanxu Sect was the most powerful they had gathered over the years.

Bei Shen sneered, “I don’t know how those old things got their hands on this treasure, but whether it’s me or the old fools at the Xuanxu Sect, we both know that the power of this statue is not inferior to yours, and may even surpass your peak strength.”

Comparing righteous gods to this ghostly being?

In terms of strength, there’s no comparison!

This was Bei Shen’s trump card, and it was the confidence that allowed him to scheme against Chi Qingzhou near Jingming Mountain.

Xing Shuangzhan finally glanced at Bei Shen, his blood-red pupils showing a subtle change.

The ghost Bei Shen described sounded familiar.

Chi Qingzhou, floating in mid-air, glanced at Bei Shen, then at Xing Shuangzhan, and couldn’t help but want to laugh.

His other half of the soul, still in the shadow, felt his amusement, grinning widely in an exaggerated and bizarre manner.

It was just so funny, he thought.

No matter whether the statue Bei Shen worshiped was his creation, he could never have responded to Bei Shen’s invocation.

And Bei Shen’s invocation might not truly be intended to do anything. He kept speaking to Xing Shuangzhan, as if stalling for time.

Chi Qingzhou wanted to tilt his head, but he had no physical form right now and couldn’t succeed.

He could only sigh in regret, contemplating that his current state might actually be ideal for visiting the main tomb room.

The tomb’s suppressing array hadn’t responded yet. Perhaps he could seize the opportunity to take Xing Shuangzhan’s body away.

Chi Qingzhou’s mind shifted, and he glanced at Xing Shuangzhan again.

He was actually a little curious about what it would feel like to possess Xing Shuangzhan’s body, so he thought he might try it out first.

If he had time when he returned, maybe he could try possessing Xing Shuangzhan?

He paused, sensing something odd, but couldn’t quite figure it out for the moment.

His other half of the soul in the shadow shifted its gaze toward him, and he relaxed, closing his eyes to sense the main tomb room’s position, then headed directly toward it.

The array of symbols, activated by overwhelming emotions, moved silently, suppressing the restless tomb-suppressing array.

Chi Qingzhou easily passed through the moonlight and the howling snow atop the main peak, traveling upward, and in an instant, entered the Grand Tomb’s main room.

…

The biting cold swept in from all sides, almost freezing the soul.

Pei Huan, who was patrolling the tomb as usual, felt this chill and paused for a moment. His expression suddenly changed.

He swiftly gripped his halberd, on alert. “Who’s hiding and sneaking around? Come out!”

The cold wind blew through the cracks of the tomb’s blue stones, and the tomb chamber echoed with the eerie sound of the wind, as if answering his question.

Pei Huan frowned, keeping his guard up as he scanned the area. Suddenly, something stirred in his mind.

He took a step back and slightly bowed. “Young Master Chi, it’s been a long time since we last met. Have you come to take the prince away?”

The wind stopped for a moment, then became even clearer.

Pei Huan’s eyes immediately brightened, and he raised his voice, “I’ve already set the array nodes in the Seven-Star Conjunction Tomb as per your instructions. As soon as you give the word, I can activate all the arrays at once!”

The wind in the tomb ceased at that moment, confirming his words.

Pei Huan couldn’t help but smile, lowering his halberd and asking, “I wonder, has Young Master Chi found a solution to the matter of the Zhulong patterns?”

The tomb remained silent, with no further wind. After waiting for a while, Pei Huan was overjoyed.

He repeated, “Young Master Chi, please wait a moment. I will activate the arrays now!”

The wind once again echoed in the chamber, and Pei Huan, not daring to be careless, quickly sped up his movements.

Chi Qingzhou floated above the tomb chamber, silent for a long time, still doing nothing.

He didn’t remember anything related to the Zhulong totem, but he believed that the past version of himself wouldn’t joke around with Xing Shuangzhan’s safety.

Since he had chosen to forget this memory, there must have been some arrangement made for it.

He just needed to go with the flow.

Chi Qingzhou was thinking the right way.

Pei Huan, using the activated arrays outside Jingming Mountain and his status as one of the Seven-Star Tomb’s masters and a disaster-level ghost, quickly lit up the remaining six arrays in under half a minute.

In an instant, Chi Qingzhou’s soul became more solid, and a terrifying pressure descended upon the main tomb chamber of Jingming Mountain’s Grand Tomb. The Candle Dragon coffin, placed in the Great Star Array, trembled for a few seconds, and the totem of the Zhulong on the coffin gradually faded. Only the star patterns around the coffin and the constellation decorations at the tomb’s peak gradually lit up, responding faintly like breathing.

Hundreds of miles away, Han Lai, preparing for the ritual, sensed something, and with a movement of his fingers, clear bird songs echoed through the forest.

The two great shamans, Nuo Qi and Nuo Xin, simultaneously turned their heads toward the northeastern direction of Yun Tian Province. In their pupils, starlight swirled.

Back in the main tomb chamber of Jingming Mountain’s Grand Tomb, the starlight suddenly grew brighter.

The coffin made of golden silk nanmu and bronze stopped trembling, and the next moment, the coffin opened by itself.

Xing Shuangzhan, eyes tightly shut, lay quietly inside the coffin, dressed in a dark ceremonial robe from an unknown ancient kingdom.

His hands were crossed over his abdomen, with wide sleeves flared open. Intricate golden-red embroidery adorned the cuffs and edges, adding a touch of elegance to the formal attire.

Soft jade ornaments and pearls were strung together with golden threads, forming a unique men’s hairpiece, wound around Xing Shuangzhan’s long hair, unfurling along with his hair at the bottom of the coffin.

Chi Qingzhou stared at the figure in the coffin for a while, feeling a bit disoriented

This version of Xing Shuangzhan looked so familiar. Had he seen him somewhere before?

It had been a long time since he’d seen Xing Shuangzhan wearing clothes like that one. Chi Qingzhou thought for a moment and couldn’t help but feel a bit moved.

Perhaps, next time, he could ask Xing Shuangzhan to change clothes for him to see?

Xing Shuangzhan really did look good in this attire.

Chi Qingzhou felt inexplicably happy.

He tentatively adjusted his viewpoint, trying to reach out with a hand that didn’t exist in his current state, wanting to touch Xing Shuangzhan.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t achieve his goal in this state.

But that was okay.

The moment he got closer to Xing Shuangzhan, all the star patterns in the tomb lit up simultaneously. In the span of a breath, Xing Shuangzhan’s body vanished from the coffin.

A thunderclap fell from the night sky.

The tomb-suppressing array of Jingming Mountain’s Grand Tomb froze for a few seconds, and in the blink of an eye, it began to operate wildly as though in a rage!

Another thunderclap echoed, and the moon was suddenly obscured by dark clouds as a torrential downpour began.

On the peak of Jingming Mountain, cold rain mixed with a few snowflakes, washing over the altar that had been abandoned for over a thousand years.

Moss, unusually washed away by the heavy rain, revealed the original form of the massive stones that made up the altar.

A faint light began to glow in the center of the altar, rising slowly amidst the pouring rain, linking with the tomb-suppressing formation to create a massive web capable of destroying the righteous gods.

Destructive power spread from the main tomb chamber, following the hidden passageways of the tomb and gradually extending to the surrounding seven secondary tombs.

These forces penetrated Chi Qingzhou’s soul, as well as the recently activated arrays in the Seven-Star Tomb, urgently and carefully searching every corner.

Chi Qingzhou felt no discomfort.

He quietly sensed this strange and terrifying power, letting out a soft laugh.

Unlike his usual innocent laughter, this low chuckle was slow and lingering, as if one could see a humble little courtyard standing abruptly at the bend of a bamboo forest, with a red lantern swaying gently in the wind beneath the eaves.

“Xing Shuangzhan is the true master of this tomb,” Chi Qingzhou murmured, “Then who set up this tomb-suppressing formation targeting Xing Shuangzhan? And when was it set up?”

Was it four years ago, when he was 18?

Had Xing Shuangzhan’s sudden disappearance from his side four years ago been related to this formation?

Or perhaps, the formation had existed over a thousand years ago but was only activated by someone with ulterior motives four years ago?

Had the complicated plan he prepared three years ago ultimately disturbed the tomb-suppressing formation? Was his goal really just to avoid the formation and take Xing Shuangzhan away?

Or perhaps…

The person who activated the tomb-suppressing formation was also the one who taugh him how to do the summoning ritual when he was 10 and the subsequent soul rending he underwent?

Who was this person?

What exactly did they want to do?

…

The rain poured heavily.

Inside the secondary tomb, Bei Shen was still unaware of the changes in the main tomb, continuing to boast about how he had tricked the elders of the Xuanxu Sect.

His intention to delay time was too obvious, but Xing Shuangzhan did not interrupt him. At a certain moment, he simply raised an eyebrow.

Bei Shen’s heart tightened, and he instinctively raised his voice.

Although he had sacrificed his eyes, he had not truly gone blind—he simply couldn’t see clearly.

He hadn’t realized that Xing Shuangzhan’s raised eyebrow had nothing to do with him. It was simply because he sensed something new in Chi Qingzhou’s shadow.

A strong connection made Xing Shuangzhan instantly aware of the truth without even looking—his body had been taken back by his little contractor.

Xing Shuangzhan’s gaze shifted from Bei Shen to Chi Qingzhou, and his expression softened immediately.

According to the customs of his Kingdom, for a life-saving favor, he was supposed to repay it with his body.

Although over a thousand years had passed, he was still willing to follow the old customs.

He just didn’t know if his little contract partner would be willing.

Bei Shen saw Xing Shuangzhan’s movement and, in order to delay time, remained silent.

However, Xing Shuangzhan quickly withdrew his gaze.

Chi Qingzhou had brought his body back to him, so it was time for him to deal with Bei Shen and reclaim the ghostly energy.

He stepped forward, directly attacking Bei Shen.

Bei Shen froze for half a second, his face turning ashen.

He panicked, retreating quickly, his hands never stopping, urgently summoning thunder to form a barrier in front of him.

Xing Shuangzhan remained calm, flicking his sleeve, and the barrier shattered in an instant!

He reached out, grabbing the scattered thunderbolts, collecting them into his palm, where they flickered for a few seconds before their light gradually dimmed.

Bei Shen was shocked and blurted out, “Why aren’t you afraid of thunder?!”

Xing Shuangzhan glanced at him indifferently. “Ordinary thunder has no effect on me.”

Bei Shen cried out, “That’s impossible! You’ve clearly been hurt by thunder before!”

Xing Shuangzhan sneered. “What would someone like you know?”

Bei Shen stared blankly for a few seconds, then saw the slightly smug look in his eyes and suddenly realized.

He collapsed in despair, shouting, “Xing Su, are you crazy?! You pretended to be afraid of thunder just to chase after your lover?!”